


Dean's home for lost boys

by CosenAngel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Debriel Mini Bang, Developing Relationship, Firefighter Dean Winchester, Fluff, M/M, Teacher Gabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-17 12:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2310023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosenAngel/pseuds/CosenAngel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean met Gabriel for the first time when his adopted daughter Krissy was failing in history. The attraction was instantaneous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [ Debriel Mini Bang 2014 at LJ. ](http://debriel-mini.livejournal.com)
> 
> Please enjoy.

_April_

 

It was the end of last period, and Gabriel knew he had to talk with the Winchester kid again. He had been forced to call her parents, her grades were going down.

"Winchester, please stay. The rest of you, get out and don't forget the essay. At least 700 words," Gabriel said right before the bell rang.

"What do you wish to speak about, professor?" Krissy muttered, not wanting to stay.

"Your grades are dropping, Krissy. If it had only been a grade or so, I wouldn’t have been worried but you’ve dropped pretty far down in just a month. I'm afraid I had to call your parents. They will be here soon." Gabriel hated calling in parents but sometimes it was needed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, another thing Gabriel hated.

"Charlie, you didn't have to come, I can handle this alone," A gruff voice came; Gabriel guessed it was Krissy's father.

"Good for you that I'm not here for you, Winchester. I'm supporting Krissy," A female voice answered.

"And I'm not?" the man, Mr. Winchester, answered sounding scandalised.

"You know what I mean." Gabriel could almost hear the eye roll Charlie gave him. The man let out a laugh and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Gabriel stood up to greet the couple. "I'm glad you could join us, Mr and Mrs Winchester." His heart skipped a beat; Krissy's father had to be the most gorgeous man he had ever seen. He was freakishly handsome and Gabriel had to force himself not to stare, Krissy’s dad was married and his daughter was his student.

The redheaded woman started to laugh, making Mr. Winchester shake his head. "Shut up Charlie. We are so not married, so please excuse her, sir." That statement made Gabriel heart skip another beat. Instant attraction was not what he needed.

"Could you imagine that, Krissy?" Charlie looked at Krissy. "Me and Dean, married?"

"Only thing that would change is that the rest of us never would get any sleep, you would have loud sex," Krissy sighed, a teasing smile on her lips.

"You two, shut it. I'm guessing your teacher had a reason to call me," Dean said, glaring at the girls.

"Please, call me Gabriel, Mr. Winchester," Gabriel said turning to Dean. "I wanted to talk about Krissy's grades."

"Call me Dean. What about her grades? I thought she was passing."

"They have dropped," Gabriel said. "I'm afraid if she continues like this, she won't pass. I have to ask, is there something going on in her home life? Something that might affect her, I have asked but she refuses to talk with me."

"Krissy, is this about your dad?" Dean turned to Krissy, who glared at him. "I knew I should have made sure he didn't drop by. Dammit."

"Dean," Krissy mumbled. "Charlie and Kevin will help me. I'll get over it."

"Yeah, we'll help." Charlie hugged Krissy close.

"I'm sure she’ll fix it right up, I just have to speak with the parents when it’s such a huge drop," Gabriel explained, he had faith in Krissy, she was a good student.

“Thank you, I’m glad you told us,” Dean said to Gabriel before turning to Krissy. "Charlie will get you home; I have to get back to the station."

Charlie and Krissy left the two men alone. Gabriel was curious by nature and the home situation of his students was something he felt like he needed to know. It helped him to keep an eye on those who needed it and making sure his students were safe. The selfish part of him wanted to know everything about Dean, but he pushed that part down.

"I'm guessing you're not her biological father then?" Gabriel asked before Dean could leave.

"Uhh... No, 'm not. She's adopted. Her real dad was a friend of my dad and we ended up becoming family. She's lived with me the last year and her deadbeat dad dropped by a few weeks ago." Dean took a deep breath.

"And she lives with you and your girlfriend?" Gabriel asked, he knew he should have been satisfied with what he got but Dean was an enigma. Dean couldn't be older than 30 but gave of the vibe of being older than Gabriel himself, and he was taking care of a young woman.

"Sorry, I have to go." He was halfway out of the room before he turned to Gabriel again. "Have a nice evening, Gabriel."

"Bye," Gabriel said, a few seconds too late. He felt like a bumbling baboon. Besides, having a crush on your student’s father was not a good plan, nope, he should do all he could to get Dean Winchester out of his mind. And it wasn’t even a real crush, just attraction. _‘Please don’t let this become one of those crushes,’_ Gabriel thought before he tried his hardest to resume his work.

\--~--

The second time Dean and Gabriel met was two weeks later during a parent-teacher meeting. This time Dean showed up alone, and Gabriel’s silly heart skipped a beat. When Dean greeted him with a smile and a raspy ‘Hello’, Gabriel realised that he would die of heart failure with his heart skipping so many beats. He had to get a grip, so he took a deep breath and decided to ignore Dean.

Dean, on the other hand spent the whole meeting staring at Gabriel as he moved around in front of the black board. This was the first parent-teacher meeting he’d been to since Sammy was in high school.

When the meeting was finally over both men was relieved. Dean watched as one of the single soccer mom’s walked up to Gabriel, her walk almost screaming ‘Desperate, please take me,’ and Dean had to look away. He might only have met the man once before but the attraction was there from start.

Jacqueline, mother of Krissy’s best friend Josephine, walked over to him and made some small talk. The usual ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ was exchanged, as well as Jacqueline asking if Josephine could spend the Saturday night at Dean’s. Apparently she and her husband had their anniversary dinner planned. Dean nodded and smiled, he liked having Josie over. She was a good kid and always helped unloading the dishwasher unlike his own brats.

It took another twenty minutes before most of the parents had left and Dean could walk up to Gabriel.

“I’ve never seen you at any of my meetings before.” Gabriel smiled at Dean.

“Some time ought to be the first, right?” Dean grinned.

“And you just happened to pick the one where Jackie had made cookies?” Gabriel raised his brow while smirking.

“The cookies were nice, but I prefer a nice warm pie,” Dean said. “And I feel bad for leaving so suddenly the other day, you know. I had to go save a teenager who had decided to smoke a joint in his dorm’s bathroom.”

Gabriel laughed. “So you are a superhero for living?”

“Meg calls me that sometimes, but mostly I save cats from trees. They are never as grateful as their owners.”

“I understand them, but if a handsome man saved me from a tree, I’d probably be pretty happy about it.” Gabriel couldn’t help the wink. He almost panicked but he noticed that Dean didn’t seem offended.

“If you ever get stuck in a tree I promise to save you,” Dean flirted back. Before either of them could say anything else, Gabriel’s phone rang.

“I’ve got to take this,” he explained quickly, noticing it was his brother calling. He hated cutting their moment short, but Michael only called when it was something important.

“It’s cool, I have to go anyway. See ya around.” Dean gave a small wave before leaving the classroom to go home, both of them wishing they could meet without interruptions.

\--~--

The third time Dean met Gabriel it was three a.m. and he was on call. It had been a calm, slow night until they got a call from a slightly hysterical female telling them that her neighbour was trying to kill them all, if not with the fire, it would be because of that horrible beeping. The 911-patcher had found that piece of information slightly hilarious.

Dean and his co-workers hurried to the scene; fortunately it wasn’t bad at all. It was just a simple toaster-burn. The toaster had gotten stuck in the down-position, the toast (with cheese apparently) had turned to coal and triggered the smoke alarm.

Dean was walking towards the back of the apartment to make sure the person who lived there was fine. He wasn’t prepared to almost get hit in the face by a door, nor by a newly showered Gabriel close behind.

“Wha’re you doin’ ‘ere?” Gabriel said, seeming utterly confused to why he was having a bunch of firefighters in his living room. Gabriel was swaying and his eyes unfocused, Dean realised he was a bit drunk. When Gabriel almost tripped over his own feet, Dean realised it was more than a bit drunk.

“Your toaster decided to get stuck, the bread burned and the smoke set of the alarms and you are too drunk to really grasp what I’m telling you,” Dean said.

“I’s okay, you are cute!” Gabriel smiled and tried to bop Dean’s nose but missed. “But I haven’t climbed any trees. You’re not supposed to save me unless I’m in a tree,” Gabriel whined, apparently he was a whiny drunk.

“We’ll say that Bela saved you.” Dean was kind of used to the whiny drunks; both his brother and Cas was whiny, although Cas often got clingy as well.

“Oh, like that plan.” Gabe smiled. “Now, I want my cheese toast.”

“You burnt it,” Dean explained.

“No!” Gabriel sounded really distressed, his speech getting a bit clearer when he realised there was no cheese toast. “I really want breakfast. Well then, that’s it. You have to take me out for breakfast and do it now.”

Dean heard his co-workers giggle and snigger behind him. Gabriel, on the other hand decided that he was walking outside in just his towel.

“Gabe,” Dean said. “Clothes, before leaving your home.”

“Fine, but if this makes me late for breakfast I’ll kill you.”

Dean shook his head and followed Gabriel to his room. When Dean entered Gabriel’s bedroom, the first thing he saw was Gabriel’s naked ass. Not that unexpected, but the batman boxer shorts hanging halfway up on his thighs were.

“Hush now Dean-o, I think I need to stay here. Breakfast ‘ll wait, I don wanna move.” Gabriel’s words got more and more slurred. Dean decided not to say anything until he heard a soft snore. Not wanting to leave Gabriel naked and in a horrible position, should he throw up, he moved the sleeping man around. After making sure Gabriel would be okay, Dean left the snoring man.

He ignored his co-workers muttering something about ‘Krissy’s teacher’ which made Bela laugh even louder. He decided to check up on Gabriel when his shift was over in a few hours. He might even take up the man on the whole breakfast-deal.

\--~--

Gabriel woke up; almost remembering the night before. He remembered showering and firefighters and Dean. He wasn’t sure if he had just imagined Dean or if that part was real. His headache was real though, he looked towards his bedside table to figure out the time. A big glass of water and a cart of aspirins were there. Next to it was a note.

 

 

Gabriel fell back asleep with a huge grin on his lips, planning to call when he woke up again.

 

\--~--

 

_May_

 

It was almost time for the annual ’End-of-school-picnic’ and Gabriel couldn’t be more excited because he might be able to meet up with Dean again. He was slightly nervous as well, he didn’t even know if Dean would show up. He had overheard Krissy mentioning to a friend that she would try and convince her family. Gabriel hoped she would convince them.

After getting Dean’s number they had talked a few times and texted a lot, more often than not it was silly things and penis jokes. Every time they talked they ended up flirting and Gabriel couldn’t help but feeling like a teenage girl. They hadn’t been able to meet up, Dean busy with saving people and Gabriel had finals to keep an eye on.

Gabriel had wanted to ask Dean to come to the picnic, but it was a family thing and not a place for first dates. Besides, how much of a date would it be with all his students running around and Dean’s family sitting there? Not Gabriel’s idea of a good date.

\--~--

Dean was unloading the car with the help of Cas and Meg. Apparently they had to carry the food while Charlie, Krissy and Kevin had gone ahead to find a nice place to put down the blanket. Dean wasn’t sure how Krissy had managed to convince them all to join. Charlie liked these things so that was a given, and Dean had gone mostly because Krissy’s puppy eyes were worse than Sammy’s but also because he might, probably, bump into Gabriel. He guessed Krissy had gotten Cas with her kicked puppy look and Cas had then used the same look on Meg. Kevin though, there was no reason for him to join them unless Charlie had forced him. Dean nodded to himself; Charlie had probably threatened him with the help of her status as Queen of Moondor.

“You coming or are you just gonna stand there and look pretty?” Meg asked, smirking at him as he gave her the one finger salute and started walking towards the football field where the picnic was held.

Finding Charlie was easy; she was waving at them as soon as they came close. Dean put down the basket he was carrying and took a quick look around. He wasn’t searching for Gabriel per se, but if he happened to see him that would be a big plus.

“You are so not discreet,” Charlie said with a laugh. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down. “Sit down, take a piece of pie and you’ll find him when you do.”

“Find who?” Castiel asked, oblivious to Dean’s crush.

“You mean you haven’t noticed him talking on the phone more, texting more and kind of walking around looking sickeningly happy?” Meg asked and stared at Castiel. “Clearance, darling, you need to step up your game.”

“Oh, I just thought he was talking more with Sam.” Cas shrugged, taking a sandwich.

“Where is Krissy and Kevin?” Dean asked Charlie, changing the subject so his best friends would shut up.

“Nice, changing subjects.” Charlie grinned at him. “Krissy pretty much dragged Kevin to meet her friends.”

“Mhm,” Dean hummed in response, still looking for Gabriel, or not really looking – he really wasn’t.  He was just scooping out the place and if he happened to see Gabriel standing a few yards away and his heart skipped a beat, well there was no one who would know. Dean smiled and almost jumped up and walked over. He ignored Charlie and Meg’s giggles as he made his way towards Gabriel.

“Gabe.” Dean grinned as he greeted Gabriel. Gabriel turned to him quickly and smiled brightly.

“Dean, hi.” Gabriel tried to hide his blush. He quickly turned to his co-worker.  “I’ll talk more with you later, Pam.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Dean said with a small smile.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t sure you would show up.”

“Yeah, Krissy dragged the whole family here. Come on, you should meet them.” Dean almost grabbed Gabriel’s hand to drag him away but he changed his mind and awkwardly patted Gabriel’s arm. Gabriel didn’t seem to notice and followed Dean.

“You’ve met Charlie, and that’s Meg,” Dean said and watched as Meg shook Gabriel’s hand. He ignored the look and smirk she gave him and turned to introduce Gabriel and Cas. “This is Cas, Cas this is Gabriel.”

“Hello.” Castiel said and looked up. As soon as he laid eyes on Gabriel he froze. Gabriel had the same look of confusion and shock as Castiel had.

“Uh, guys-” Dean started but suddenly both Cas and Gabriel jumped in to action. Dean, Charlie and Meg could only watch as Gabriel hugged Castiel and Castiel didn’t try to get away. Dean’s heart started beating furiously, maybe they had been lovers and they fell in love again or maybe they were childhood friends. He didn’t know how to act, he couldn’t find words.

“Cassie, bro, I heard you left home but I never thought I would see you again.” Gabriel stared at Castiel.

“How did you hear that? You were not on speaking terms with father or anyone else as far as I knew.”

“Did you really think my mother would let me disappear completely? She kept me updated on what happened.” Gabriel had moved a few steps back. “She does miss you, you know.”

“I can’t go back!” Castiel answered, his voice pleading.

“I’m not asking you to, I won’t even tell her I met you unless you’re okay with it.”

“Thank you Gabriel.” Castiel smiled.

“Anyone care to fill us in?” Meg snapped angrily. She was off the ground and moved close to Cas.

“It’s not my place-” Gabriel begun.

“-Then Cas can shed some light on this for the rest of us,” Meg growled and glared at Castiel.

“Gabriel is my brother,” Castiel said. He ignored Charlie’s gasp and turned to look at Meg. “We have the same father but we have different mothers.”

“Wait,” Dean said, making them all turn to him. “Cas, buddy, you have never mentioned any siblings at all. We have talked about your mom and dad, but never once did you mention any sibling.”

“I don’t like talking about my family, they are-” He looked for a good word.

“-Special, overbearing, morons, annoying, stupid,” Gabriel added helpfully with a shrug and Castiel nodded.

“Gabriel is better at talking about them, I was the first son of the fourth wife, he is the fourth son of the first wife. He knows more and is highly regarded in our church. I was a loner back then as well,” Castiel explained quickly.

“What Cassie is trying to say is that our dad has a lot of wives and even more kids. He rarely had time for most of us because there was always another child to care about, another wife asking for his attention and he was the head preacher at the church. There were some fights that tore our family apart and then I left.” Gabriel shrugged. “I like my life better now and by the looks of it, so does Cassie.”

“I do, and it’s all because of Dean. You found a good man Gabriel.” Castiel nodded to himself then sat down and continued eating his sandwich.

“That’s it?” Dean asked. “You just found your brother and this is it?”

“Dean, just because you and Sam are unhealthily codependent doesn’t mean all siblings are,” Castiel said. “Now sit down, eat pie and talk to Gabriel.”

Dean turned to Gabriel who shrugged before sitting down and taking a piece of pie. Dean couldn’t believe this. They were brothers and hadn’t seen each other in god knows how long and nothing more.

“Dean, stop thinking so hard, join me.” Gabriel grabbed Dean’s hand and tugged him down.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence until Krissy came running, Kevin right behind her.

“Hi, Gabriel. This is Kevin. He’s my kind of brother,” She greeted quickly before turning to Dean. “Josie wondered if we would be at Emma’s party and I said that we had to ask you so please Dean, may we go to the party? Pretty please with pie on top?”

“Will there be alcohol?” Dean asked.

“No,” Krissy started but changed her mind when Dean gave her a look. “Yes, maybe. Please.”

“Fine, go, have fun. I’ll be picking you up at 2 am when my shift is over. If anything happens call me or Charlie,” Dean said. Krissy hugged him and then she dragged Kevin away again.

“You are gonna call the cops on them by eleven, right?” Charlie grinned.

“Of course.” Dean smiled and started to laugh. Soon the whole group were laughing. Dean looked over to Gabriel and realised that, yeah, maybe he really should ask him out. Gabriel gave Dean a small smile before telling a story about his first real party. All in all, Dean was happy that Krissy had asked them to go on the picnic; the only thing that could make it better was if he managed to ask Gabriel out.

Right before leaving, he pulled Gabriel to the side and asked. The moment when Gabriel nodded and said yes was the same moment as Dean decided to give Krissy a really nice birthday present.

 

\--~--


	2. Summer

_June_

 

Dean was not really freaking out; he had just forgotten how stressful dating really was. He just wanted to make this date perfect. Not only was it the first date he’d been on for years but it was the first date with Gabriel. They were going to a diner/bar that they both liked, maybe shoot some pool but mostly get to know each other more. Texting was nice but nothing was as good as sitting in front of the one you liked and talk. Also; Dean was way better at flirting in person than in text.

Dean headed out, he was going to pick Gabriel up in 15 minutes and he wanted to be on time. He was thankful for the Impala, she always calmed him down. He blared Led Zeppelin all the way to Gabriel’s apartment. He waited outside for Gabriel to come down. When he did, Dean’s heart started beating fast and he had to remind himself to breath.

“She is a beauty,” Gabriel said in awe, he really liked the classical car, it was perfect for Dean.

“That she is. Baby is the best.” Dean was proud of his car and he kept her in mint condition.

“Well then, let’s roll.” Gabriel grinned and got inside. Dean laughed and quickly joined him. Dean punched Gabriel lightly on the arm when he complained that a tape recorder was so old fashioned. They spent the rest of the way to the diner talking about the pros and cons with CD-players in classic cars.

\--~--

The date was nice, time passed quickly and suddenly it was time to leave. Dean didn’t want the night to end and neither did Gabriel. They had spent most of the night flirting and talking about pranks, Vonnegut and classic cars. Dean had taught Gabriel how to shoot pool, their flirting making some of the others in the bar uncomfortable.

Dean drove the long way back to Gabriel’s so they could keep talking, but soon they were right outside his place.

“So,” Dean started, having walked Gabriel to the door. “I had fun.”

“Me too, Dean-o.” Gabriel smirked. “I would invite you in but, I’m just not that kind of girl.”

Dean laughed loudly. “Are you sure about that?” he asked as he moved closer to Gabriel, almost pushing him into the door.

“I am,” Gabriel took a deep breath. “I’m a good girl, so no sex on the first date, but I might let you kiss me goodnight.”

“Would you now?” Dean smirked and moved even closer. “I would feel bad if I’d let you go to bed without one.”

“Stop talking and kiss me, Dean-o!” Gabriel growled. Dean chuckled before leaning the last few inches and kissed Gabriel. It started out with a quick peck but when he was about to move away Gabriel put his arms around Dean’s neck to keep him there. Dean smiled and kissed Gabriel again, licking slightly at his lips. Soon the kiss deepened even more. They pushed closer together, trying to get as close as humanly possible. They pulled away when the need to breathe became too much.

“That’s how you kiss someone goodnight,” Gabriel mumbled before removing himself from Dean. Neither of them really wanted to let go but they had to. A few quick kisses more and Gabriel almost pushed Dean towards the car.

“Goodnight, Gabriel.” Dean smiled and waved before getting in the car.

“Night, Dean,” Gabriel mumbled as he watched Dean drive away.

 

\--~--

 

_July_

 

It had started as a small drizzle but soon it was a full-fledged rainstorm. Bad enough that no one wanted to go outside to get home, but not bad enough for Dean to get called in to work in case of emergencies. Dean got a text from Krissy; she would stay at Josie’s for the night. Kevin called and said that he and Charlie would stay at Gilda’s together with the rest of their RPG-group.

Gabriel was over at Dean’s place, enjoying dinner with Dean, Meg and Cas when the thunder started. Castiel had jumped high and quickly made his way downstairs to check on his guinea pigs. Meg had hurried after Castiel to their room, knowing that he had rushed down, not only to check on the pigs but mostly because he really hated thunder. She would make sure his mind didn’t wander off to bad places.

“I remember Cassie hiding out in my bed when it was this kind of weather,” Gabriel said with a sad smile. “He never liked thunder.”

“Oh.” Dean took another bite of his dinner. “How come, the loudness? ‘Cause that was Sammy’s thing. He cried every time there was a thunderstorm.”

“Aren’t you charming, shovelling in food and then speak?” Gabriel smirked. “Nah, he wasn’t afraid of the sound. It was the lightning. He said it was God trying to punish sinners.”

“Really? I never knew Cas was religious,” Dean said, a bit surprised at the fact. He had known Cas for years now but he didn’t know much about who Cas was before his breakdown that led him to Dean.

“Our father was religious; Cassie wanted to be the good son, so he was pretty religious or at least acted like it. He told me one night that God might punish him since he didn’t really believe as much as he should. As much as our father wanted him to.”

“Oh man...” Dean wasn’t as surprised by that. “That’s not as surprising, the whole pleasing your father bit. He reminded me of a dog when I first met him. A lost, confused, slightly crazy puppy.”

“So you adopted him.” Gabriel smiled.

“And got a hell-cat for free.” Dean laughed. Another lightning bolt lit up the room and a loud rumbling echoed. “You wanna stay for the night?”

“If it’s okay.” Gabriel smiled, and the rumbling got louder. “Yeah, I’d like to stay.”

“’Course it is,” Dean said and then realised that this would be the first time Gabriel would spend the night. Dean said nothing more about it; instead he started with the dishes, ignoring his small freak-out. Gabriel happily helped him with the dishes, humming to himself.

\--~--

When it was time for bed it was still raining just as harshly, the thunder seemed to have subsided for the moment. Dean was debating with himself if he should invite Gabriel to share his bed or if he should let him have the guestroom.

“So,” Gabriel started. “If I’d say I’m afraid of thunder would I be able to share your bed or…” he tailed off.

“I’d like that, I mean, I’ll be able to keep you safe.” They smiled goofily at each other.

When they finally had gone to bed and were ready to sleep, Gabriel moved closer to Dean.

“I like to cuddle and I hog the comforter,” He explained quickly.

“I don’t mind cuddling and I always kick the comforter of during the night,” Dean mumbled.

“Good, that’s very good.” Gabriel cuddled close and murmured a last “perfect,” before they fell asleep.

\--~--

When Gabriel woke up he was buried beneath the covers, still as close to Dean as he was able. The rainstorm had passed and there were some utterly annoying birds tweeting outside. Dean was snoring right into his ear, and Dean’s stubble was scratching him. Gabriel was quite sure that Dean had drooled on him at some point during the night. Still, everything was just perfect. Waking up next to Dean was from this day forward Gabriel’s favourite way of waking up

 

\--~--

 

_August_

 

Dean walked inside, knowing he was late for his own BBQ. Gabriel should have arrived already and Dean might like the guy but he was afraid of leaving him and Charlie alone for more than a few minutes. It usually ended up with something exploding or his own humiliation since they both had a thing to embarrass Dean. This time, nothing smelt burnt and he didn’t hear any stifled laughs. What he did hear though was a lot of shouting coming from porch.

“Why isn’t it burning?” Charlie was shouting.

“How should I know, I’ve never started a grill before!” Gabriel shouted back.

“It should be a fire now. How can we fail? You are a teacher and I’m a genious!” Charlie replied, sounding slightly panicked. Dean could hear the rest of his family laughting at the pair. Dean shook his head and left his bag by the shoe rack.

“I teach history and American lit. I’m not supposed to know how to start a fire.” Dean could imagine Gabriel’s hands waving around in frustration. “And why are you just sitting there, not helping?”

“Last time I tried to do anything with food, Dean told me that I would be homeless if I ever did it again when he wasn’t there making sure I didn’t burn the house down.” Castiel said earnestly, his voice flat. He wasn’t allowed to make anything except PB&J-sandwiches.

“I just like watching you make fools of yourselves,” Meg replied, Dean could hear her smirk.

“Just leave it,” Krissy said. “Dean’s home soon. He’ll fix it, without trying to burn down the house.”

Dean decided to actually join the family outside, trying his best to not laugh at them before even saying hi.

“I’m a bit late and y’all wanna burn my house down?” He greeted them.

“They would fail,” Krissy said with a grin. “No matter how smart they are together they don’t know anything about making a fire.”

“Unlike you, you little pyromaniac,” Charlie jibed back at her.

“Which is why she is not allowed to turn on the grill,” Dean smirked. He walked over to Gabriel and took the lightning fluid from him. “I’ll do this, you can stand there and look pretty.”

“Oh fuck you,” Gabriel grinned. “Just because I tell you to do that one time you have to keep throwing it back at me.”

“Well, you are hot enough to be arm candy. Might be a bit too smart to pull it off though.” Dean winked.

“Dean,” Meg practically growled. “Stop flirting with your unicorn and make some food.”

\--~--

The dinner was one of the best Gabriel had been at in years. The food was wonderful; the company even better and there was a promise of toasted marshmallows. Gabriel breathed in the atmosphere; this was how a family should be. This was what life should be. Gabriel found himself wishing the moment never had to end but soon Krissy left the table to call Josie about something.

The others stayed for a while, all of them talking and laughing loudly. Charlie complained about Cas’ bee hives but made sure to mentioned how wonderful newly harvested honey was at anything ranging from Dean’s spareribs to Meg’s pancakes.

Dean and Meg told the story of how they had met. A fist fight, started with a guy making a pass at Cas and Meg got pissed, no one should make passes at her best friend when said best friend just had stood there looking innocent and uninterested. Dean was just drunk and felt like helping, managing to hit the guy once and Meg at least three times.

“No! I only hit you once,”

“You did not! You hit me once and I hit you back and then you felt like you had to hit me one more time to make it even.”

Cas calmly explained that they hit each other more than any other fighters, making both Dean and Meg yell at him for lying.

When the clock neared 10 p.m. Kevin and Charlie moved inside to be part of a raid on one of their games. The foursome that was left wished them good luck and a good night.

Dean moved closer to the grill and the other followed. Meg pulled out another bag of marshmallows for them to toast.

“So,” Gabriel turned to Meg. “Why did you call me Dean’s unicorn before?”

“Because you are his unicorn. Clarence is mine, so that would make Dean’s yours.” Meg smiled, like it was obvious.

“Just accept it dude,” Dean smiled, and rolled his eyes making sure Meg saw it. She threw a marshmallow at him, which missed his head by far.

“If I’m your unicorn, does that make you my virgin girlfriend?” Gabriel said, making the four of them laugh loudly.

They spent the rest of the evening like that, with toasted marshmallows, jokes and beer. Dean decided there and then, that this was the best barbecue they had had in years.

 

\--~--


	3. Fall

_September_

 

Dean's adopted family had quite a few traditions. Their Thanksgiving dinner was one of the biggest, not only was it those who lived in the house but Sam and Jess came up. Bobby, Ellen, Jo and Ash drove down to stay for a few days. Kevin's mom would always join them, bringing her special pecan pie for Dean as a ‘thank you for taking care of my son’-gift. Every now and then Charlie's current girlfriend or Krissy's boyfriend would join in. Sometimes Lisa and her son Ben, who adored Dean, would be there.

Their Christmas Eve celebration was about that size as well, although only the occupants of the house were there for Christmas day, with the exception of Sam and Jess. Their Christmas day was special in the way that they all were home, opening gifts and spending the whole day watching Christmas movies and eating. Dean’s magical hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows was the favourite drink.

They almost always had a huge New Year’s bash with some of the best fireworks in the neighbourhood. It was one of the bigger parties around and they invited everyone who wanted to come with the rule to bring some kind of food and drinks.

Birthdays were a huge thing, no matter how old the person got. Dean had scored a deal with his boss, he didn't mind being on call every night as long as he got those days off.

Those were the big traditions that had started back when it was only Dean and Sam. The more people moved in and were adopted, the more small traditions were made. Some got lost over time, like burger-Tuesday and _"no Sam, no pets"_ arguments after dinner. Others simply changed form, like the first BBQ of the year where they always used to drink loads of beer and make burgers. Now they used the first BBQ of the year as a close family meet up, there was never the same amount of beer, since Dean almost always was on call and they had kids in the home.

But one of the biggest and most important traditions was the weekly movie night. Most of the time they tried to fit it in the nights when both Dean and Meg was free. The others usually managed to clear the chosen night without problem. In the last year they had only missed two weeks. The first time was when Dean was unexpectedly called in because of a huge forest fire, and once when Krissy ended up in the hospital because of her appendix.

This was the first movie night that Gabriel was invited. Dean had tried his hardest to keep it house-family only during the years. Then Castiel and Charlie had cornered him to ask why Gabriel hadn't joined them yet, and he hadn't been able to keep Gabriel away any longer. He couldn't really tell his two best friends that the reason for Gabriel to not have joined was that he was scared. If Dean brought Gabriel around during a family moment it would mean so much more than just dinner or breakfast. It made the whole thing more real and suddenly it wasn't so temporary. And it scared him, more than he cared to admit. He liked Gabriel. A lot. But making someone new a more permanent fixture was a big step. He had the kids to think of, after all.

Dean was having a small panic attack while waiting for Gabriel to show up. He didn’t really know how to act since this step was huge. Kevin was already fixing the movie for the night, _The Fifth Element_ , because you couldn’t go wrong with sci-fi action and Bruce Willis. Meg was overseeing Castiel as he made popcorn, Charlie was hanging with them in the kitchen, waiting eagerly for Gabriel to get there and knock on the door. The two of them had bonded over a love for the middle ages and fantasy, and they often discussed history versus fiction.

When Krissy entered his room, without him having heard the knocking, he realised he probably should man up. He was probably just acting stupid and silly and like a pussy about the whole thing.

“Dean, breath,” Krissy ordered. “I know that this is important to you, but all of us like him already. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Krissy.” Dean looked at her. “I think you are more of a grown up than I ever wanna accept.”

“Just because you still think I’m ten.” Krissy grinned. “Man up, it’s just movie night, we eat popcorn and watch trashy movies. I am the one who should be stressed out. It’s my teacher you are dating.”

“Still can’t believe you are okay with that.” Dean raised his eyebrow.

“Of course I am! Because you wanted to date him, I can’t remember the last time you wanted something for yourself except the last piece of pie.” Sometimes Krissy sounded way too much like Sam for Dean’s liking.

“Well, kiddo-” Dean wasn’t able to finish his sentence because there was a knock and Charlie’s loud greeting and Dean was having his small freak out again.

“Chill Dean,” Krissy laughed at him.  Dean punched her lightly on the arm before moving out of his room and down the stairs to greet his kind-of-maybe-not-really-boyfriend-or-partner-or-whatever.

\--~--

During the movie the pair had sat cuddled. It had started out as sitting next to each other but they had fallen close quite quickly, Dean having his arm around Gabriel’s shoulders as Gabriel leaned close. Fortunately Gabriel enjoyed a good Bruce Willis movie as much as Dean so he was pleased with his choice of movie.

It was late when they finally got to bed, having had a long discussion with Charlie and Kevin about the movie. It didn’t really matter that they all had seen the movie more than twice. Dean enjoyed having Gabriel close and in the end it felt natural to have him there during the most important family-thing they had.

“Thank you,” Gabriel murmured, head burrowed in Dean’s neck.

“For what?” Dean asked, confused. He didn’t know what he had done this time.

“For inviting me and letting me share this with you. I know it’s important to you.” Dean could feel Gabriel’s smile.

“I’m glad you were here,” Dean mumbled before kissing Gabriel on the head, ending their talk before it ventured in to dangerous waters.

 

\--~--

 

_October_

 

Krissy ran to the kitchen, bag over her shoulder and ready to throw anything edible in her bag and eat it during class. She had overslept, her first class would start in 15 minutes and she cursed Dean for not waking her up. Gabriel had spent the night so Dean should have been up by then, if only to kiss Gabriel goodbye.

What Krissy wasn’t prepared to see when she entered the kitchen was Dean and Gabriel at the table, both with a cup of coffee and that ‘too-hungover-to-exist’-look. Dean was in his pyjama pants and Gabriel had his boxers and one of Dean’s t-shirts on. One of the things she never ever had wanted to see was her teacher half naked in her kitchen. At least he was late so he couldn’t be mad at her.

“You know we are late?” she asked.

“Yes,” Gabriel grunted. “I know.”

“Are you going to get dressed so we can leave?” She crossed her arms and stared at them.

“I don’t know.” Gabriel sounded like he would fall asleep at any given moment.

“We start in,” she looked at her watch, “twelve minutes. So, drink up and let’s get a move on.”

“Yeah, we should get dressed,” Dean added and gave Gabriel a small smile. He made a move to get up but quickly sat down again. “Nope. Krissy, get Meg to drive you guys.”

“I think I’m still drunk,” Gabriel said. “Crap.”

“Gabriel!” Krissy said, not really caring that he was her teacher. “Get dressed, I’m getting Meg.” She stomped out of the kitchen, her footsteps echoing.

“Your kid stomps.” Gabriel looked at Dean.

“I know.” Dean gave Gabriel a small smile. Gabriel leaned over and kissed him. They lost themselves in the kiss and when Krissy came back they were groping each other.

“Dad!” Krissy shouted, something she only called Dean when she was distressed or sleepy, “Gabriel! For fuck’s sake, I shouldn’t have to witness this.”

“Sorry, baby,” Dean said, smiling at Krissy. Gabriel had the decency to look a bit awkward before hurrying up to Dean’s room to get dressed.

“I’m happy for you,” Krissy said, sitting down in front of Dean. “But I really don’t appreciate all the PDA. It’s my teacher you are groping. I have to see him all the time and act as if I haven’t seen him in only his boxers or in just a towel. Which I rather wouldn’t have had to do.”

“Sorry.” Dean was trying not to laugh, but Krissy’s face when she saw Dean and Gabriel leaving the bathroom, neither of them having more than a towel on, had been priceless.  He wished he could have that as the background on his phone.

“Dean,” Krissy said, whining a bit in that way that makes Dean do whatever she wanted.

“Fine, we’ll keep it to a minimum around you.”

“Thank you.” Krissy smiled. Gabriel and Meg entered the kitchen at that point and the three of them hassled to get out and to the car as quickly as possible. Dean managed to sneak in a goodbye kiss before being left alone in the kitchen. He shrugged and went back to bed.

\--~--

Krissy and Gabriel were only twenty minutes late thanks to Meg’s driving. Gabriel might have been a bit scared after the experience but Krissy was used to it, she was just happy Cas never even tried to get a licence after his first time behind the wheel.

Gabriel had told her that she could go inside before him and sit down. He had given her the opportunity to keep their home life separate from their school-relationship. She had just shrugged.

“Gabe, I’ve seen your superman underwear and you practically live with us. I don’t mind showing up here at the same time as you. Most of them know you and Dean are dating.”

“Oh.” Gabriel was a bit surprised about that but if Krissy was okay being seen with him, he wouldn’t complain. He knew trust came hard in the Winchester-family. “Well then, let’s get going. It’s been a while since I’ve held a lecture while being drunk.”

Krissy laughed loudly at him as she walked inside the classroom, making the whole class groan.

“You just had to bring the teacher!” Adrian complained, with a smile.

“I found him in the kitchen, couldn’t leave him there.” Krissy answered with a grin.

“Yes, you could,” Josie said.

“And gotten us a temp?” Krissy made sure to sound scandalised.

“Not any temp.” Gabriel chipped in. “I’d have asked for Adler.” The whole class groaned. Adler was the worst teacher at the school.

“Y’all should thank me,” Krissy laughed.

“You can do that at recess. Now, page 36, start reading and when you are done with that chapter draw a picture of Adler, you will be graded on them.” Gabriel grinned, he could give them today off, he was drunk after all.

 

\--~--

 

_November_

 

Dean’s shift had ended at eleven, but unfortunately he was held back and wasn’t able to leave until midnight. It took him closer to 30 minutes to get home. He sneaked inside his home and towards the kitchen. Even though both Kevin and Krissy were heavy sleepers it was better to sneak than to accidentally wake them up. He entered the kitchen only to see Gabriel there.

“I thought you would have gone home by now,” Dean said quietly.

“I was going to, but then I realised that if I didn’t wait up and stayed here I would never see you. I love your family but I’m dating you.” Gabriel answered surly. “I know you work odd times .and that you're on call most of the time, I just hoped you would have time for me sometimes.”

“Have you thought about that a long time?” Dean asked, sounding slightly offended. “I mean, you make it sound like I never try to see you.”

“Sometimes I feel like you don’t, and Dean, I am trying. I want to see you. I want to actually hang out.” Gabriel stood up and walked close to Dean. “I hate staying up waiting for you.”

“I never asked you to!” Dean’s voice was louder; he was upset and felt kind of betrayed. He tried very hard to make time for Gabriel, and the rest of the family. Gabriel had known what he was getting into when they had started dating.

“I only want to actually see you every now and then!” Gabriel said loudly.

“It sure is great to see you Gabe, I come home and you start complaining. Fucking great!” Dean shouted. He was exhausted as it was and he was not in the mood for a screaming match with his boyfriend.

“Fine, forget it. I wanted us to talk and maybe find a nice way of dealing with this, but if you’d rather yell, then I should go home.” Gabriel threw his hands up and moved towards the door.

“Maybe you should,” Dean muttered and continued quietly, “Maybe we should take a break.”

“Wow, Winchester.” Gabriel glared at him. “You are such a fucking idiot.”

“What did I do now?” Dean said, confused and angry.

“I said ‘Let’s talk another time when we’re not yelling’ and you tell me we should take a break,” Gabriel almost yelled. “Have you never been in an adult relationship before? You think one fight is enough to make us break up?”

“What? I never said-”

“Because if you do, you are not the man I fell for,” Gabriel finished, ignoring Dean’s comment.

“I don’t want us to break up.” Dean said. “I don’t wanna fight. I’m sorry I yelled, I’m exhausted and I need sleep.”

“Yeah, well, good. ‘Cause if you broke up with me because of this, I would hit you,” Gabriel said, most of his fighting spirit leaving.

“I know you would.” Dean gave him a small smile. “You know, you could sleep here.”

“Really?” Gabriel asked. “You want me to stay?”

“Yeah, I mean, you could stay in Sammy’s room if you want to be alone. Besides, you have to get up in a few hours and it would be stupid to drive to your apartment when there is a bed here.”

“I refuse to sleep in Sammy’s room. Your bed is better.” Gabriel smiled and walked towards Dean. “We are not done talking about this, but we both need sleep. If you want something to eat there’s food and pie in the fridge.”

“You got me pie?” Dean asked, looking at Gabriel like he hung the moon.

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on fighting and I was going to give it to you when you got home. Then you were late, and I got angry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, not your fault really. Eat some pie, I’ll go and get the bed warm.” Gabriel smiled and walked away.

Dean took out the pie and started eating it. He was contemplating on how to make everything right again. Gabriel had a point in what he said; they almost never saw each other. Maybe he could ask Gabriel to stay over more often and they could at least sleep together and maybe eat breakfast together. Dean could do that for Gabriel, he could get up insanely early only to eat together. They had done that a few times but it usually was after movie nights or the very few date nights they had. He decided to tell Gabriel about this idea as soon as he got upstairs.

“Dean,” a timid voice said from the kitchen door.

“Krissy, baby, what are you doing up?” Dean asked worriedly, she could sleep through an earthquake.

“I woke up by your shouting.” Krissy looked at him. “Are you going to break up?”

“Oh, we’re not breaking up. It was just a slight disagreement.” Dean said and gestured for Krissy to come closer. When she was next to him he gave her a hug. “We are done fighting.”

“Good, because you are happier when he’s here,” Krissy mumbled into his shoulder, before moving away. “Promise that I don’t have to listen to loud make-up sex now.”

“I promise, we’ll keep it quiet.” Dean winked at her. “Go to bed, it’s a school night.”

“Fine, just, no more shouting?”

“No more shouting.” Dean watched as she left, he was angry at himself for the fight and even more so now that their fighting had woken Krissy up.  Krissy came from an abusive home and sometimes she reacted as badly as Cas when it came to fights.  Dean shook his head, put the dish in the sink and walked upstairs. He quickly brushed his teeth and got undressed before he joined Gabriel in bed.

“You awake?” Dean whispered.

“Yeah, kinda,” Gabriel mumbled and turned to face Dean.

“We woke Krissy up with our fight.” Dean moved as close as he could. “It made me feel even more stupid. The whole thing was stupid.”

“Yeah, I know, I get that you work at odd times and get held up, so I really shouldn’t be mad. You’re a superhero, you save kittens.”

Dean gave a small laugh. “Well, I thought that maybe we should try and eat breakfast together. Like every time you stay over, no matter how late I worked.”

“I like that, as long as we are sober,” Gabriel laughed quietly.

“Sounds like a plan.” Dean leaned over and kissed him. “Now, sleep.”

 

\--~--


	4. Winter

_December_

 

It was a few days before Christmas and Gabriel was rushing around in stores, trying to shop for gifts. It wasn’t his usual Christmas shopping, where he bought gifts for himself and his neighbour with the fat and angry dog. He made a mental note to pick up something for them as well and looked at his list.

He had ticked off quite a few during the last hours; Charlie, Krissy, Meg, Kevin were pretty easy. Everyone else would get chocolate, pretty expensive chocolate at that. He knew a guy who made the best candy in town.

The problem wasn’t with Dean’s family; the problem was Dean and Castiel. How do you pick up the best gift ever to your boyfriend? Especially when ‘boyfriends’ sounds so silly, they were both grown men after all. Finding something good enough for Dean would be a pain in the ass. Then again, finding something for Cas would almost be worse. Weren't people supposed to know what to get their siblings for Christmas? Gabriel didn’t and it stressed him out. He decided to be an adult and call Dean.

Three signals, then a grumpy “What?” greeted him.

“Right, you worked night, oh who cares, I’m having a crisis here.” Gabriel took a quick breath and continued. “I don’t know what to get Cas, he is my brother and I am supposed to know, I mean you got Sam’s gift ages ago and I think I’m an horrible brother who doesn’t know what their sibling want-“

“Gabe, shut up,” Dean mumbled. “I was asleep, you woke me up, what are you trying to ask me?”

“As Castiel’s best friend you should know what he wants and then I’ll buy it.”

“I’ve no idea what Cas want,” Dean deadpanned.

“How can you not know?”  Gabriel tried to not sound agitated, it wasn’t Deans fault that Gabriel had saved all his shopping until last minute.

“Because I don’t care, we have awesomely standardized gifts planned. We have done that since he tried to give me a kitten.”

“He tried to give you a kitten?”

“Yes, I am still trying to sleep. Meg said something about him needing a new hat of some sort; she’s giving him a scarf.”

“A hat? I’m supposed to give my brother a hat while you give yours like this huge symbolic thing that you bought in September?” Gabriel grumbled.

“Sammy ‘n me were ridiculous co-dependent as Lisa once said.”

“I feel like there is a story there.”

“Yes, ‘nother time, I’m sleeping here, Gabriel.” Gabriel could hear the glare Dean was sending him.

“Yeah, yeah, night night, sleep tight and dream of me.” Gabriel smiled and hung up, not waiting for a reply. He was going hat-hunting. Since he had bought the ugliest thing he could find for Meg, he resolved to find the ugliest hat for his brother.

\--~--

The day before Christmas Eve and the big Winchester-dinner, Gabriel was walking around at another market, still looking for that one thing that screamed Dean. Gabriel stopped at a booth and got some mulled wine. Standing there, sipping it. he realised why it was so hard to get Dean something.

Dean never asked for anything. Dean worked with saving people, then he came home and took care of a big family, making sure everyone was happy. He helped Krissy with everything he could, he had late night talks with Castiel just because Castiel couldn’t sleep and Meg had to work early the following day. He made sure all the cars and bikes were in mint condition, he helped Charlie and Kevin prepare for their LARP’s and he fixed anything that needed to be fixed around the house. Because that was what Dean did. Dean did everything he could for his family and more than that. Gabriel smiled to himself, being able to call Dean ‘his’ was a blessing and he had to show it with the perfect gift.

Sipping on the mulled wine he continued down the booths. He stopped briefly at a table filled with car-details and miniature cars. He saw a car that reminded him slightly of Dean’s Impala. The one thing Dean actually seemed to love more than anything else.

“Excuse me,” Gabriel said loudly, catching the seller’s attention. “I’m just wondering if you happen to have a miniature Impala.”

“I have quite a few of those,” the old man smiled. “Any specific model you’re looking for?”

“A 67.” Gabriel smiled, remembering all of the rants Dean had about the car and his complaining about finding parts.

“Here you go sir, a Chevy Impala -67.” He handed the car over to Gabriel.

“Wow, it’s actually pretty nice,” Gabriel mumbled.

“I’m guessing you’re not a car person,” the seller said with a laugh.

“No, it’s uh-” Gabriel licked his lips. “It’s for my boyfriend. He has the upscale version, and he loves that car.”

“It is a beautiful car,” once again the man smiled. “That will be 40$”

“Here.” Gabriel handed over the money.

“Would you like a bag?”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Gabriel smiled and then walked away. He hoped this would be enough for Dean. It might only be their first Christmas, but at the same time it was their first Christmas and that was an important mile stone. Gabriel took a deep breath. He would know if it had been a good or bad choice in just two days. First, he had to join the Winchester house hold for their Christmas Eve dinner.

\--~--

Christmas Eve passed by in a flash. Gabriel had shown up bright early in the morning, much to everyone’s despair. Poor Sam and Jess had shown up the day before and did not appreciate Dean’s boyfriend waking them up with the shrill sound of the doorbell. After making them all breakfast, Gabriel was forgiven.

The whole family had somehow managed to work together in the kitchen to finish up the food and at precisely four o’clock there was a knock on the door. Jess was the one who opened it as she and Gabriel had been banned from the kitchen. Jess because of Sam’s inability to focus on the food making when she was there to help and Gabriel because he kept trying to stick his fingers in every piece of food to taste it.

The dinner itself was just as pleasurable as the Thanksgiving dinner. Kevin’s mother was the first one to leave; she left them a small bag of gifts to put under the tree and kissed her son on the head. Dean had offered her to stay and join them for Christmas Day and gift opening. She had smiled and declined, telling them she was going to help at a homeless shelter. With a smile she waved and left.

A few hours later, Bobby, Jo and Ellen picked up their things and decided to move out. They were having a Christmas bash at the Road house and Bobby was staying there to celebrate with them. Hugs were exchanged, food was given way and gifts were placed beneath the tree.

Gabriel stood and watched as Dean ordered Krissy and Charlie to pack up the food, Meg and Cas to put on the movie and Jess to keep an eye on them since they had been drinking a bit more wine than the rest of them. Sam was set for washing up the dish with the help of Kevin. Gabriel smiled as Dean walked over to him.

“You are staying, right?” Dean asked, moving in close.

“Of course I am, I like it here and your bed is better than mine.” Gabriel smiled as Dean ‘hum’-ed in agreement before kissing him. They stood in the doorway, kissing until Sam threw a towel at them.

“There isn’t even a mistletoe! I swear to god that if I have to listen to you have sex tonight I will keep all of your Christmas gifts and throw away all the pie.” Sam glared at the pair who simply laughed at him. Kevin rolled his eyes before quickly moving upstairs, bringing a plate with cookies with him. It was time for the Christmas movie and for once it wasn’t Dean’s favourite but a real Christmas movie.

“Man, I can’t believe they all voted down Die Hard. Best Christmas movie ever,” Dean grumbled to Gabriel as they joined the rest of the family in the movie room.

“Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Yes, it is.”

“Dean, hush, it’s about to start,” Meg said putting an end to the useless discussion.

\--~--

Gabriel woke up at Christmas Day, by Dean’s soft snoring right into his ear. The man was like an octopus in bed, hands everywhere, pressed close and legs intertwined with Gabriel’s. This was a very good way to wake up on Christmas Day.

Gabriel managed to turn around so he was face to face with Dean. He smiled. Here he was in bed with the most handsome man he ever had laid his eyes on. He couldn’t imagine anything that could be better than laying here counting Dean’s freckles.

Gabriel noticed how Dean was close to waking up so he leaned forwards and kissed him lightly on the lips. He felt Dean smile and just had to kiss him again.

“Morning,” Dean mumbled, his voice rough with sleep.

“Morning.” Gabriel kissed him again; he couldn’t keep his lips of Dean in the mornings. Neither of them were men of words so they had to show their love in other ways.

“Keep that up and the family will wonder why we didn’t prepare breakfast.”

“And your brother will throw things at us.” Gabriel grinned and Dean let out a laugh.

“Let’s feed the kids,” Dean said with a smile and gave Gabriel a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up from the bed.

“To bad you have to put pants on,” Gabriel mumbled, staring at Dean’s ass.  Dean laughed and threw a pair of clean boxers at Gabriel.

“Get dressed; I have to make hot chocolate for eight persons.” Dean pulled on his shirt and pyjamas pants. “You can stare at my ass downstairs.”

“Oh well, if that’s what I have to do.” Gabriel shook his head sadly. “Then I have no choice, I will follow you and stare at your butt while thinking about rimming you.” He grinned at Dean and got a shirt in the face as thanks.

\--~--

The whole family was sitting around the Christmas tree, wrapping paper strewn around, gifts in piles and half full mugs with Dean’s Hot Chocolate. Castiel was wrapped in the scarf Meg had gotten him while wearing the sock-monkey hat Gabriel bought him, apparently it was the best hat he’d ever had.

“Thanks for giving him that,” Meg muttered, although she was smiling. “He’ll wear it to bed.”

“I’d be surprised if he’ll take it off while showering.” Dean laughed, sipping on the whiskey Cas had bought him. Dean put the glass down before opening his last gift, the one from Gabriel who got more and more uncomfortable. Dean ripped off the last piece of paper and before he could say anything Gabriel was talking.

"I panicked, do you know how hard it is to find you something?" Gabriel started to ramble “I saw it and thought of you and then I panicked because it was the day before yesterday and I had to get you something and I know it’s not-”

"I think it's perfect." Dean had a dopey smile and leaned over to kiss Gabriel. Dean kissed him again and again.

“Guys, not here!” Sam whined. “Really, you can’t keep your hands of each other for like five minutes?”

“They can’t,” Krissy said with a sigh.

“We keep walking in on them,” Kevin muttered.

“Kitchen, bathroom which they forgot to lock, TV-room. Everywhere!” Charlie glared at the couple.

“We said sorry,” Dean protested and Gabriel laughed.

“Not enough bleach in the world to get that out of my head.” Charlie said, throwing a ball of gift wrap at Dean. “Don’t forget the last gift, Dean.”

“Right, thanks Charlie.” Dean smiled before he handed a small box to Gabriel. “Uh, it’s not a ring.” He said before anyone could get that idea. He and Gabriel weren’t at that point just yet.

“I didn’t think it were.” Gabriel smirked and opened the box. The whole room was quiet, and then Gabriel jumped Dean.

“And kissing again,” Sam groaned. “You guys wanna share what it is?”

“Dean gave me a key.” Gabriel beamed. “I have my own key.” He let out a laugh and kissed Dean again. “Way better than any ring,” he mumbled against Dean’s lips.

“Get a room!” Sam raised his voice, but he couldn’t help smiling at his brother and Gabriel. They were kind of adorable. Gabriel turned to Sam and winked. Then again, nope, not adorable at all.

 

\--~--

 

_January_

 

It was Dean’s birthday and Gabriel was in his own apartment for once. Since he had no idea what to get his boyfriend he decided to make a pie. Not any pie but a pecan pie. Most easy pies like apple pie, cherry pie and basically all fruit pies were something Gabriel already knew how to make. This time he was testing his limits and making Dean’s favourite pie.

He watched the pecans in the oven; the recipe said they scorched easily. A few minutes later he pulled the baking tray out and put it on a tray-holder to cool. Then he started with the dough.

“Flour, check. Sugar and a pinch of salt, double check,” Gabriel murmured to himself.  “Dammit, I should have cut the butter in small pieces. Oh well.

Gabriel loved baking, mostly because he could taste it and it was fun to blend with your hands. He was quite glad he didn’t share his home with anyone else since no one seemed to appreciate sticky fingerprints all over the kitchen. He looked at the recipe and then added the egg. This time he didn’t stick his hands in the dough but used a fork. When the dough looked good enough he formed it into a disk, wrapped it up in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.

He had an hour before it would be chilled enough so he made quick works with the dishes, took a long, warm shower and then returned to the kitchen to chop the toasted pecans. He looked over the recipe and made sure all the ingredients were placed on the counter.

He then proceeded to roll the dough and fitting it into the pie pan. After several tries to make it perfect he decided that it was good enough and stuffed it in the freezer and set a timer for 30 minutes. Gabriel hated the downtime when baking these kinds of pies, but it was all for Dean. He had even bought some pie weights to make sure it was perfect.

He preheated the oven to 400°F. Then he waited.

When the timer went off and the oven was heated, Gabriel put a piece of parchment paper over the pie shell and filled it with the pie weights. Then he set the timer for 17 minutes and started on the filling.

He poured most of the ingredients in a saucepan and then boiled it while stirring. He was humming to himself. As he waited for it to boil the timer went off and he checked on the crust.

“Looks done,” he murmured to himself. “Let’s take you out and remove the weights.”

When he was done, he put the crust back in the oven for another 10 minutes. He checked the filling in the saucepan which had started to bubble slightly.

“Come one, get all bubbly now,” he said. A few minutes later it was full on boiling, and he took it of the stove to stir in the pecans, a dash of bourbon and the vanilla. He let it cool some and checked on the crust that was almost ready.

He took the crust out of the oven, putting it on the stove to not burn anything or himself. He then whisked the eggs into the filling and poured it into the crust. Before returning the pie to the oven he turned down the heat to 350°F. He then set the timer for 40 minutes and did the dishes.

When the timer went off, Gabriel checked the pie and decided that two more minutes would be good for it. He finished the dishes and then took the pie out. He let it cool slightly while he got dressed for Dean’s birthday bash.

\--~--

Gabriel entered the kitchen, finding Dean standing there opening a beer. The small counter was filled with food and drinks.  It seemed like Gabriel timed his arrival perfectly, even after spending most day baking he could definitely eat some burgers.  

“Hi Gabe,” Dean smiled at him. “Is that a pie?”

“It’s pecan. I made it myself.” Gabriel handed over the lukewarm pie.

“That’s awesome, Gabe.” Dean grinned. “It smells great.”

“Did you know that crust-making is an art form?”

“All pies are art,” Dean said while putting the pie down.

“Yeah, yeah. I have another gift but I can’t give it to you when your family is in the same room.” Gabriel winked. Dean laughed loudly. “You gonna give me a beer or what?”

“Sure.” Dean smirked and walked over to Gabriel. “But first, I think I should get a birthday kiss.” Gabriel nodded and gave Dean a quick peck. Dean glared at him making Gabriel laugh before giving him a real kiss.

“Dean!” Krissy exclaimed. “You promised to not do things like that in the kitchen.”

“Sorry,” both Dean and Gabriel said while laughing. Krissy just shook her head before starting to set the table.

 

\--~--

 

_February_

Dean hated February. It was cold, wet and grey. Most of all though, he hated Valentine’s Day. There was nothing he hated like Valentine’s Day. Not a thing. Well, a few things but that was not the point. Valentine’s Day was just this stupid thing that some smart dude had made commercial. The biggest point was to sell, sell, and sell things to the stupid people. Dean didn't really care that he, as someone's partner, should care and do all the silly things and by loads of gifts. He refused.

Gabriel on the other hand loved Valentine’s Day. All that candy and silly cards and ugly stuffed toys. It was like Christmas, only pinker. He had already acquired all the candy and ugly toys he needed to make Dean's day a living, pink hell. Dean had worked the night shift so when Gabriel sneaked into his room and began to throw petals all around, he continued sleeping.

Gabriel worked hard to not snigger or start laughing when he put all of the stuffed animals he had bought in Dean's bed. He made sure that the ugliest teddy was very close to Dean's face. Gabriel had made sure to buy a lot of those shiny, heart-shaped balloons for Dean’s room. He put almost all of them around the room; he left some for the rest of the house. Gabriel made sure to put one in each of the other’s room, not for Dean’s sake but to annoy them.

Gabriel made sure that Dean’s alarm clock would wake him in 15 minutes; otherwise he might have to wait forever for Dean to wake up. When he was satisfied with Dean’s room, Gabriel made his way down to the kitchen to make breakfast. He started with the coffee and then he made heart-shaped eggs and bacon. He had even bought a pie for dessert.

“Gabriel!” Dean shouted loud enough that Gabriel heard it down in the kitchen. Gabriel sniggered and poured the coffee for Dean. He listened to Dean’s swearing and how Dean almost ran down the stairs. He looked up to see Dean standing in the doorway.

“I made you breakfast.” Gabriel smiled as Dean finally noticed the table being set. “I even got us some pie for dessert.”

“Breakfast and pie will not make me forgive you for vandalising my room,” Dean growled but sat down at the table.

“How about an empty house and marathon sex in any room you want?” Gabriel smirked.

“We’re home alone?” Dean asked. “Where are the rest?”

“Out, I don’t know. I didn’t ask what they were going to do. I focused on bringing you a happy Valentine.” Gabriel shrugged and joined Dean at the table. “You think my plan is okay?”

“I accept it. Besides; it’s been a while since I had sex in the kitchen.” Dean winked and took a bite of his bacon.

“Good thing I put the bottle of lube there then. Eat up, big boy. You’ll need it.” Gabriel smiled. This would be an amazing Valentine’s Day.

 

\--~--

 

_March_

 

It made sense after all; Gabriel had practically been living at Dean’s place for months. Dean was sure this was the right step, but he hesitated. It was a huge decision and even though he was ready for the commitment, he wasn’t. He wanted Gabriel to stay each night. It was stupid that they practically lived together but that Gabriel still had to pay for an apartment he didn’t really live in.

It was a Tuesday night. Not any Tuesday, but a movie night Tuesday. The whole family was in the movie room, munching on candy and popcorn, the movie halfway through and Gabriel seemed to have forgotten the lollipop in his mouth. Dean stared at him and realised that this was the one person he wanted to spend forever with.

“Gabe,” Dean started.

“Mhm,” Gabriel hummed as reply, still focusing on the TV.

“You wanna, move in or something?” Dean blurted.

“Sure, Dean-o, it won’t take long to move out of the apartment or sell it. It’s a nice place,” Gabriel said, still watching the movie unlike most of the others. Dean maybe should have talked to them before, but none of them seemed to mind that much.

“What? You don’t even try to think it through?” Dean said, staring at Gabriel. Now the rest of the family was looking at them as well, Kevin even turned down the sound of the movie. They all stared at Dean like he was stupid for asking.

“Dean, I’m kinda living here as it is,” Gabriel said, looking at Dean. “Besides, I love you, your bed is nice and Meg makes a decent pot-roast. What’s the big deal?”

“I- I’m - Awesome. I mean, awesome.”

“Did I break you?” Gabriel said with a smirk.

“No, of course not,” Dean huffed.

“You really do suck at the talking part unless it’s about the kids. Now hush, watch the movie and then we can have celebratory sex.”

“Sound’s good.” Dean coughed lightly, choosing to ignore everyone’s glares.

“Charlie, I’m sleeping in your room tonight.” Krissy said.

“Anytime sweetie,” Charlie smiled. “Kevin, you wanna join the girl’s night? There will be loud music and pizza that Dean pays for.”

“I like that plan, yes.” Kevin nodded.

Dean smiled to himself. This was what life should be like; having your partner, your best friends and your family enjoying a movie. Dean pulled Gabriel into his arms. Never had he ever been as happy as he was this moment.

Gabriel was thinking the same thing. He was happy he had met Dean. He was grateful that Krissy’s grades had dropped enough that he had been forced to call Dean. Thanks to that, he found the love of his life. He also found his lost little brother and a family that he could call his own. Life was good and he was pretty sure that the sex they would have soon would be epic.

 

\--~--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the longest piece of work I have managed to do.  
> It was fun and I have learned that in the next mini/big bang I enter, I should be done with the fic at least one month before publishing and not one week.  
> As always a huge thank you to my darling bestie and beta.  
> [ I used this site for the pecan pie recipe.](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pecan-pie-recipe.html)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this, thank you for reading.


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